9 Occurrences Surrounding The Birth Of Jesus Christ.

By Bill And Teddy Rogers

The birth of Jesus is one of the most celebrated events in the Christian calendar. It marks the occasion when Jesus Christ was born (approximately c. 6-4 BC) in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago. The story of Jesus’ birth is a central part of our Christian faith, and has been retold countless times through art, literature, music, and film.

1. THE BIRTH OF JESUS FORETOLD

According to the Bible, Jesus was born to Mary and Joseph, who were both from the town of Nazareth. Mary was a virgin when she became pregnant with Jesus, and this was due to an immaculate conception. The Bible tells us that an angel appeared to Mary and told her that she was to give birth to a son, who would be the Son of God.

2. THE ANGEL GABRIEL IS SENT TO MARY

Luke 1:26-35 (NLT) says “God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!

Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. Don’t be afraid, Mary, the angel told her, for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His ancestor David. And He will reign over Israel forever; His Kingdom will never end!

Mary asked the angel, But how can this happen? I am a virgin. The angel replied, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and He will be called the Son of God.”

3. JOSEPH AND MARY MUST GO TO BETHLEHEM

Close to the end of her pregnancy, Joseph and Mary had to go to Bethlehem to register for a census and pay their taxes.  When they arrived there, they found that there was no room at the inn. They were forced to stay in a stable, where Mary gave birth to Jesus.

4. THE SHEPHERDS AND ANGELS

The Bible also tells us that angels appeared to shepherds in the fields nearby, announcing the birth of Jesus.

Luke 2:8-20 (NLT) says “That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger.

After seeing Him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.”

Note: These were not ordinary shepherds. These shepherds were Levite priests who were fulfilling their temple duties and were responsible for taking care of the flocks that were intended for the sacrifices in the Temple in Jerusalem about five miles away. It was the priests’ job to make sure the lambs were without blemish and completely unharmed before being sacrificed.

5. VISITORS ARRIVE FROM THE EAST

The Bible also tells us that wise men from the East came to pay tribute to the newborn king.

Matthew 2:1-12 (NLT) says “Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw His star as it rose, and we have come to worship Him.”

King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”

“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote: ‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah,for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’”

Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”

After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy!They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.”

Note: The wise men had come from a great distance away and arrived about two years after the birth of Jesus when Joseph and Mary were living in a house in Bethlehem.

6. KING HEROD ATTEMPTS TO KILL JESUS

Matthew 2:16 (NLT) says “Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance.”

7. JOSEPH AND MARY FLEE TO EGYPT

Matthew 2:13-15 (NLT) says “After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”

8. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF JESUS

The birth of Jesus is significant because it is believed to represent the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies about the coming of the Messiah. Jesus’ birth also symbolizes hope and redemption, as it is believed that He was sent by God to save humanity from sin and bring us closer to God.

The story of Jesus’ birth has been retold and interpreted in many different ways since the time of the Bible. It has been the subject of countless works of art, including paintings, sculptures, and stained-glass windows. It has also been the basis for many Christmas carols and hymns, such as “Silent Night” and “Joy to the World”.

9. GIVING THANKS FOR THE GIFT OF JESUS CHRIST

Today, the birth of Jesus is celebrated by Christians all over the world on December 25th, which is known as Christmas Day. This is a day of celebration, prayer, and reflection, where Christians come together with friends and family to give thanks for the gift of Jesus Christ.

Note: The actual birth day of Jesus was not December 25. The date we celebrate was adopted by the Christian church as the birthday of Christ in the fourth century. According to Bible Scholars, Jesus was actually born in mid-September to early in October. Temperatures were still fairly warm and that is why the shepherds were still watching their flocks in the fields.

The birth of Jesus remains a significant event in our Christian faith. It is an occasion that represents hope, redemption, and the fulfillment of God’s promises to humanity. The story of Jesus’ birth has been retold countless times, and continues to inspire people all over the world to this day.

In conclusion, because we know that the Savior of the world has come, we should be praising and thanking God every day of the year, not just on Christmas Day.

END OF POST

Wanted: New Guest Author Posts.

During 2024, our desire is to publish more high-quality articles, posts, stories and testimonies that will demonstrate the goodness of God and encourage, inform or entertain our almost 6 million readers across 206 countries worldwide.  To accomplish this, we need help from quite a few guest authors. We invite you to be one of them.

WHO WE ARE AND WHAT HAS HAPPENED SO FAR

We are Bill and Teddy Rogers, founders of Prime Life Ministries and our blog at https://www.primelifeministries.com.

Founded in 2015, our blog's mission is to spread "The Mission Of The Cross" worldwide, helping individuals find forgiveness, salvation, and an empowered joy-filled life in Christ.  With almost 200 free pages and posts of Bible-based content, we offer guidance on building better relationships, increasing your faith, and ultimately securing your place in Heaven.

Our commitment to spreading the message goes beyond language barriers.  Every one of our pages and posts on our blog can be translated into over 100 different languages, making it accessible to all your friends and family worldwide. 

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If you have personally written an article or post or have received emails or other forms of communication that contain non-copyrighted stories or testimonies of life experiences (Example: career, healing, finances, relationships, security, blessings of any kind, etc.) that you think would encourage, inform or entertain our readers, we invite you to send it to us.

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WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU

If you want some serious international exposure for your articles, posts. stories or testimonies, please send them to us (in English) through our email address "primelife1@gmail.com".  Please use "Guest Post" as your subject so we don't miss it.

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Finally, please pass this information on to other individuals you know who may want to do the same.

Let's really crank this up, give God the glory, and win some souls.

Thanks and may God Bless You abundantly. We look forward to receiving your article, post, story or testimony. 

Bill and Teddy Rogers

Prime Life Ministries

 

END OF POST 

Christmas Eve At The Gas Station.

Note: The following is a Wonderful Story that demonstrates by example the Spirit Of Giving – especially at Christmas. We received it by email and unfortunately, the author is unknown. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

The old man sat in his gas station on a cold Christmas Eve. He hadn't been anywhere in years since his wife had passed away. It was just another day to him. He didn't hate Christmas, just couldn't find a reason to celebrate. He was sitting there looking at the snow that had been falling for the last hour and wondering what it was all about when the door opened and a homeless man stepped through.

Instead of throwing the man out, Old George as he was known by his customers, told the man to come and sit by the heater and warm up. "Thank you, but I don't mean to intrude," said the stranger. "I see you're busy, I'll just go."

"Not without something hot in your belly." George said.

He turned and opened a wide mouth Thermos and handed it to the stranger. "It ain't much, but it's hot and tasty. Stew ... Made it myself. When you're done, there's coffee and it's fresh."

Just at that moment he heard the "ding" of the driveway bell. "Excuse me, be right back," George said. There in the driveway was an old '53 Chevy. Steam was rolling out of the front. The driver was panicked. "Mister can you help me!" said the driver, with a deep Spanish accent. "My wife is with child and my car is broken." George opened the hood. It was bad. The block looked cracked from the cold, the car was dead.

"You ain't going in this thing," George said as he turned away.

"But Mister, please help ..." The door of the office closed behind George as he went inside. He went to the office wall and got the keys to his old truck, and went back outside. He walked around the building, opened the garage, started the truck and drove it around to where the couple was waiting. "Here, take my truck," he said. "She ain't the best thing you ever looked at, but she runs real good."

George helped put the woman in the truck and watched as it sped off into the night. He turned and walked back inside the office. "Glad I gave 'em the truck, their tires were shot too. That 'ol truck has brand new ." George thought he was talking to the stranger, but the man had gone. The Thermos was on the desk, empty, with a used coffee cup beside it. "Well, at least he got something in his belly," George thought.

George went back outside to see if the old Chevy would start. It cranked slowly, but it started. He pulled it into the garage where the truck had been. He thought he would tinker with it for something to do. Christmas Eve meant no customers. He discovered that the block hadn't cracked, it was just the bottom hose on the radiator. "Well, shoot, I can fix this," he said to himself. So he put a new one on.

"Those tires ain't gonna get 'em through the winter either." He took the snow treads off of his wife's old Lincoln . They were like new and he wasn't going to drive the car anyway.

As he was working, he heard shots being fired. He ran outside and beside a police car an officer lay on the cold ground. Bleeding from the left shoulder, the officer moaned, "Please help me."

George helped the officer inside as he remembered the training he had received in the Army as a medic. He knew the wound needed attention. "Pressure to stop the bleeding," he thought. The uniform company had been there that morning and had left clean shop towels. He used those and duct tape to bind the wound. "Hey, they say duct tape can fix anythin'," he said, trying to make the policeman feel at ease.

"Something for pain," George thought. All he had was the pills he used for his back. "These ought to work." He put some water in a cup and gave the policeman the pills. "You hang in there, I'm going to get you an ambulance."

The phone was dead. "Maybe I can get one of your buddies on that there talk box out in your car." He went out only to find that a bullet had gone into the dashboard destroying the two way radio.

He went back in to find the policeman sitting up. "Thanks," said the officer. "You could have left me there. The guy that shot me is still in the area."

George sat down beside him, "I would never leave an injured man in the Army and I ain't gonna leave you." George pulled back the bandage to check for bleeding. "Looks worse than what it is. Bullet passed right through 'ya. Good thing it missed the important stuff though. I think with time your gonna be right as rain."

George got up and poured a cup of coffee. "How do you take it?" he asked.

"None for me," said the officer.

"Oh, yer gonna drink this. Best in the city. Too bad I ain't got no donuts." The officer laughed and winced at the same time.

The front door of the office flew open. In burst a young man with a gun. "Give me all your cash! Do it now!" the young man yelled. His hand was shaking and George could tell that he had never done anything like this before.

"That's the guy that shot me!" exclaimed the officer.

"Son, why are you doing this?" asked George, "You need to put the cannon away. Somebody else might get hurt."

The young man was confused. "Shut up old man, or I'll shoot you, too. Now give me the cash!"

The cop was reaching for his gun. "Put that thing away," George said to the cop, "we got one too many in here now."

He turned his attention to the young man. "Son, it's Christmas Eve. If you need money, well then, here. It ain't much but it's all I got. Now put that pea shooter away."

George pulled $150 out of his pocket and handed it to the young man, reaching for the barrel of the gun at the same time. The young man released his grip on the gun, fell to his knees and began to cry. "I'm not very good at this am I? All I wanted was to buy something for my wife and son," he went on. "I've lost my job, my rent is due, my car got repossessed last week."

George handed the gun to the cop. "Son, we all get in a bit of squeeze now and then. The road gets hard sometimes, but we make it through the best we can."

He got the young man to his feet, and sat him down on a chair across from the cop. "Sometimes we do stupid things." George handed the young man a cup of coffee. "Being stupid is one of the things that makes us human. Coming in here with a gun ain't the answer. Now sit there and get warm and we'll sort this thing out."

The young man had stopped crying. He looked over to the cop. "Sorry I shot you. It just went off. I'm sorry officer."

"Shut up and drink your coffee " the cop said.

George could hear the sounds of sirens outside. A police car and an ambulance skidded to a halt. Two cops came through the door, guns drawn. "Chuck! You Ok?" one of the cops asked the wounded officer.

"Not bad for a guy who took a bullet. How did you find me?"

"GPS locator in the car. Best thing since sliced bread. Who did this?" the other cop asked as he approached the young man.

Chuck answered him, "I don't know. The guy ran off into the dark. Just dropped his gun and ran."

George and the young man both looked puzzled at each other.

"That guy work here?" the wounded cop continued.

"Yep," George said, "just hired him this morning. Boy lost his job."

The paramedics came in and loaded Chuck onto the stretcher. The young man leaned over the wounded cop and whispered, "Why?"

Chuck just said, "Merry Christmas boy ... and you too, George, and thanks for everything."

"Well, looks like you got one doozy of a break there. That ought to solve some of your problems."

George went into the back room and came out with a box. He pulled out a ring box. "Here you go, something for the little woman. I don't think Martha would mind. She said it would come in handy some day."

The young man looked inside to see the biggest diamond ring he ever saw. "I can't take this," said the young man. "It means something to you."

"And now it means something to you," replied George. "I got my memories. That's all I need."

George reached into the box again. An airplane, a car and a truck appeared next. They were toys that the oil company had left for him to sell. "Here's something for that little man of yours."

The young man began to cry again as he handed back the $150 that the old man had handed him earlier.

"And what are you supposed to buy Christmas dinner with? You keep that too," George said. "Now git home to your family."

The young man turned with tears streaming down his face. "I'll be here in the morning for work, if that job offer is still good."

"Nope. I'm closed Christmas day," George said. "See ya the day after."

George turned around to find that the stranger had returned. "Where'd you come from? I thought you left?"

"I have been here. I have always been here," said the stranger. "You say you don't celebrate Christmas. Why?"

"Well, after my wife passed away, I just couldn't see what all the bother was. Puttin' up a tree and all seemed a waste of a good pine tree. Bakin' cookies like I used to with Martha just wasn't the same by myself and besides I was getting a little chubby."

The stranger put his hand on George's shoulder. "But you do celebrate the holiday, George. You gave me food and drink and warmed me when I was cold and hungry. The woman with child will bear a son and he will become a great doctor.

The policeman you helped will go on to save 19 people from being killed by terrorists. The young man who tried to rob you will make you a rich man and not take any for himself. "That is the spirit of the season and you keep it as good as any man."

George was taken aback by all this stranger had said. "And how do you know all this?" asked the old man.

"Trust me, George. I have the inside track on this sort of thing. And when your days are done you will be with Martha again."

The stranger moved toward the door. "If you will excuse me, George, I have to go now. I have to go home where there is a big celebration planned."

George watched as the old leather jacket and the torn pants that the stranger was wearing turned into a white robe. A golden light began to fill the room.

"You see, George ... it's My birthday. Merry Christmas."

George fell to his knees and replied, "Happy Birthday, Lord Jesus"
 

End Of Post

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy, safe and very prosperous New Year full of contentment and joy,

Bill and Teddy Rogers